Lesson plans for using graphic novels, comics in the classroom
History…ratings
Seduction of the Innocent - published in 1953 – “inappropriate” comics - comics took a backlash – comics code ..so today do not r to put age ratings on
..no universal rating system
Vocabulary is usually
Not meant to replace books
Another way to tell a story
NPR – enigma from reading Dr. Strange
Graphic Novel authors
Gareth Hinds – does a lot of classics -Shakespeare, Beowulf
Locally based - presented to 11th and 12th grades in Winchester - very well received.
Tidea – local- maybe a speaker for the future
Ratings
Ratings: in SLJ, Booklist, VOYA (Voic of Youth Advocates) - http://www.voya.com/
Baker and Taylor – age ratings
Marvel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Rating_System
Problem with Marvel is that they don't advertise their rating system.
However, go to Marvelkids.com to preview all focused on kids.
DC Comics – no rating system
Common Sense Media – not so alarmist http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews
Built for parents. Color codes to show if different rating systems agree on rating.
e.g. Watchmen – a classic – should be for adult collection, maybe jr. and srs. … a lot of political commentary. Show why they give a comic a certain rating - also discussions.
Manga is forced to do age ratings (by book stores)
Japanese have a different perception e.g. nudity – purity as changing into hero
Should check to see if their ratings agree with yours.
ONI Press
Tokyopop (most complicated rating system) – will tell you why
In general, both US and Japanese react more to sex than violence
Japanese manga is broken into categories: girls; boys; adult men; adult woman, porn http://www.tokyopop.com/corporate/booksellers/879
Fanservice - part of rating system. Rates the amount of the comic that's put in just for fans, not for plot. Usually an excuse for scantily cald characters. Gets raunchier as gets older.
Manga for Kids
Young kids
Happy Happy Clover - good for young kids.
COWA! - about a vampire
Leave it to PET! - a Manga all about recycling.
Youtsuba&!
Teens
Emily Basket
Tegam Bachi
Bleach - maybe a bit too violent
One Piece (silly) - boy who aims to be a pirate. Long series
Fruits Basket - some nudity
Older teens 16+
Death Note (no gore) – great one to study, about targeting people to die
Pluto – (science fiction - robots) fantastic series to study. Science fiction, global politics
Vampire Night
Mu Shi Shi – Chinese mythology and folklore, horror stories but not explicit
Mature 18+
Suppli
OOku
Seduce Me after the Show
Vagabond – gorgeous art, very violent
Reviews
Robin read reviews to see what's in a graphic novel to give it merit. Blogs and websites most useful for reviews because library journals can’t keep up
NYT review almost useless, especially for kids e.g. Black Butler – have the Best Seller list for Graphic Books (but most are adults titles)
Good Comics for Kids http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/540000654.html on SLJ - editor (Brigid Alverson) is local and can come and talk. Brigid posts links to reviews - only those she respects. Robin writes for it. Covers whole range of K - 12. Problem - no index.
Graphic Novel Reporter http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/
same people as Teen Reads. Good resources list, Manga glossary, Kids reviews. Tends to come from publishing world so more mainstream. Roundtable discussions.
Diamond Bookshelf http://bookshelf.diamondcomics.com/public/default.asp?t=2&m=1&c=20&s=158
Good discussions with authors, teachers, professors
Comics are good for helping students understand literary devices e.g. flashbacks
Myth and myth making
Symbolisim – math, panels and ratios
Adventures in Cartooning – a story in which the characters have to use and explain comic styles to survice - really explains why panels are important (recommend for kids!) - and then kids can do a comic book report
Crogan Adventures (pirates.. – doing a boy’s adventure series)
Author does live readings with voices. Good for younger teens
Amelia Rules (girl, 10) – good for girls. Mom is divorced - deals with friendships, people getting ill. Realistic style
Prime Baby – sister is an Alien – sibling rivalry.
Salt Water Taffy – adventure series set in Maine. Good for boys
For Middle School:
Secret Science Alliance (middle school) – three kids (jock, girl, geek) who love science, create experiments and solve crimes http://secretsciencealliance.doing-fine.com/
Foiled by Jane Yolen (teenage girl, geek, fencer) - just released
New Orleans After the Deluge - follows 5 real people during and after Katrina. Doesn't have strong political agenda.
The Photographer (Afghanistan) - about Doctors without Borders
Hill and Wang – publisher of nonfiction g.n. - hire good artists and writers
The Vietnam War
Fahernheit 451
Trotsky
Twilight (popular, bad text bubbles – font and placement)
Transformations
Maximum Ride - Manga adaptation
Cirque de Freak
Graphic Spin:
Cinderella (fairy tale adaptations) Capstone
Wonderland - takes the story of Alice farther along.
Calamity Jack (series) (Jack is not white), Rapunzel's Revenge - retelling of traditional fairy stories
Trickster – beautiful in style
Bayou (extraordinarily good, focus on lynching)
Pluto - realistic Manga
Cataloging - several members said that they have all of their graphic novels together on the shelves, but then use the numbers to organize. Robin suggested that using title may work best as multiple authors for some g.n. - ie Batman
Titles (previously entered - 2008)
Tim Callahan's recommended Graphic Novelists (in reverse order of importance):
Neal Adams
Mark Millar - Marvel 1985. Features a young boy protaganist going to another universe, trying to come home. Young teens
Bill Willingham - Fables. Teens - sex and violence. Later volumes get more sophisticated.
Gerard Way - The Umbrella Academy - teens
Kevin Colden - Fishtown - based on true story of hs students who murder a classmate. Brutal and harsh - older and teens. Told from students perspective - chilling.
Free on web.
Alex Ross - Marvels - watercolors, younger and older teens. Different graphic perpectives.
Steve Gerber - Omega the Unknown - all ages. Bizarre content - young boy genius with alien robots for parents. All mystery, little action.
Peter Milligan - British - The Human Target - teens. Identity issues, not a lot of action. Protaganist puts on difft. disguises to do jobs.
Paul Chadwick - Concrete - Human trapped in rock body, environmentally conscious - introspective, not lots of action
Mike Allred - Madman - character struggle to figure out who he is
Joe Sacco - Gorazde - nonfiction account of Bosnia
Steve Rude - Nexus -
Craig Thompson - Blankets - coming of age story - sex, religion, family - older teens
Wally Wood - Weird Science -characters with domed heads flying in space - style mixes cartoons and realism
Ed Brubaker - Sleeper - double-agent working in super-villain organization. Realistic writing - crime noir
Darwyn Cooke - DC: The new Frontier - origins of the Justice Frontier
Paul Pope - Heavy Liquid - stories more about style than substance. Manga influence
Warren Ellis - Planetary - group of chars. involved in superaction plot - popculture of particular time
Steve Ditko - The Amazing Spider-Man
Yoshihiro Tatsumi - Push Man and Other Stories - Manga, subtle - everyday life, something bad happens. Older teens and above
Adrian Tomine - Shortcomings - older teens, focuses on lack of connection among people
James Kochalka - American Elf - collected diary, one day at a time - online. Also wrote Peanut Butter and Jeremy
Jaime Hernandez - Love and Rockets - older teens, relationships
Jason Aaron - Scalped - Native Amer. crime story on a reservation - older teens
Gilbert Hernandez - Palomar - brother of Jaime. relationships in community
Bryan Lee O'Malley - Scott Pilgrim - loser type character has to fight ex-boyfriends of newly discovered girl - older teens
Brian Wood - Local - chapters about a girl, each chapter takes place in difft geo. region, difft. period of life - older teens - sex
Jeff Smith - Bone
Matt Fraction - Casanova - older teens
Will Eisner - Spirit
Neil Gaiman - Sandman
Persepolis
Howared Cruse - Stuck Rubber Baby - nudity, sexuality
Frank Miller - Sin City
Art Spiegleman - Maus
Grant Morrison - Animal Man
Jack Kirby - The Fourth World all ages
Dan Clowes - Ice Haven - teacher fired over - scene with sex and nudity
Chris Ware - Jimmy Corrigan
Alan Moore - Watchmen
Robin Brenner robin@noflyingnotights.com
April 9, 2010 (2 hours)
Handouts from Robin:
A listing on new Graphic Novels recommended by Robin
Table of Contents
LessonPlanHandouts.pdf
- Details
- Download
- 1 MB
Lesson plans for using graphic novels, comics in the classroomHistory…ratings
Seduction of the Innocent - published in 1953 – “inappropriate” comics - comics took a backlash – comics code ..so today do not r to put age ratings on
..no universal rating system
Vocabulary is usually
Not meant to replace books
Another way to tell a story
NPR – enigma from reading Dr. Strange
Graphic Novel authors
Gareth Hinds – does a lot of classics -Shakespeare, Beowulf
Locally based - presented to 11th and 12th grades in Winchester - very well received.
Tidea – local- maybe a speaker for the future
Ratings
Ratings: in SLJ, Booklist, VOYA (Voic of Youth Advocates) - http://www.voya.com/
Baker and Taylor – age ratings
Marvel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Rating_System
Problem with Marvel is that they don't advertise their rating system.
However, go to Marvelkids.com to preview all focused on kids.
DC Comics – no rating system
Tiny Titans (DC) is expressly for kids http://comics.wikia.com/wiki/Tiny_Titans
Common Sense Media – not so alarmist http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews
Built for parents. Color codes to show if different rating systems agree on rating.
e.g. Watchmen – a classic – should be for adult collection, maybe jr. and srs. … a lot of political commentary. Show why they give a comic a certain rating - also discussions.
Manga is forced to do age ratings (by book stores)
Japanese have a different perception e.g. nudity – purity as changing into hero
Should check to see if their ratings agree with yours.
ONI Press
Tokyopop (most complicated rating system) – will tell you why
In general, both US and Japanese react more to sex than violence
Japanese manga is broken into categories: girls; boys; adult men; adult woman, porn
http://www.tokyopop.com/corporate/booksellers/879
Fanservice - part of rating system. Rates the amount of the comic that's put in just for fans, not for plot. Usually an excuse for scantily cald characters. Gets raunchier as gets older.
Manga for Kids
Young kids
Happy Happy Clover - good for young kids.
COWA! - about a vampire
Leave it to PET! - a Manga all about recycling.
Youtsuba&!
Upper elementary - Dinosaur Hour, Whistle (sports & teamwork), Oh My Goddess - romantic comedy
Teens
Emily Basket
Tegam Bachi
Bleach - maybe a bit too violent
One Piece (silly) - boy who aims to be a pirate. Long series
Fruits Basket - some nudity
Older teens 16+
Death Note (no gore) – great one to study, about targeting people to die
Pluto – (science fiction - robots) fantastic series to study. Science fiction, global politics
Vampire Night
Mu Shi Shi – Chinese mythology and folklore, horror stories but not explicit
Mature 18+
Suppli
OOku
Seduce Me after the Show
Vagabond – gorgeous art, very violent
Reviews
Robin read reviews to see what's in a graphic novel to give it merit. Blogs and websites most useful for reviews because library journals can’t keep up
NYT review almost useless, especially for kids e.g. Black Butler – have the Best Seller list for Graphic Books (but most are adults titles)
Good Comics for Kids http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/540000654.html on SLJ - editor (Brigid Alverson) is local and can come and talk. Brigid posts links to reviews - only those she respects. Robin writes for it. Covers whole range of K - 12. Problem - no index.
Graphic Novel Reporter http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/
same people as Teen Reads. Good resources list, Manga glossary, Kids reviews. Tends to come from publishing world so more mainstream. Roundtable discussions.
Diamond Bookshelf http://bookshelf.diamondcomics.com/public/default.asp?t=2&m=1&c=20&s=158
Good discussions with authors, teachers, professors
In the classroom
Comics in the Classroom.net http://comicsintheclassroom.net/oolessonplans.htm
Flummery.com - a website with simple comics, added each week
NACAE – high school or higher
Graphic Novel Reporter
Diamond Bookshelf – links to Red Write Think
Comics are good for helping students understand literary devices e.g. flashbacks
Myth and myth making
Symbolisim – math, panels and ratios
Adventures in Cartooning – a story in which the characters have to use and explain comic styles to survice - really explains why panels are important (recommend for kids!) - and then kids can do a comic book report
There is also a Read Write Think Comic Creator: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/comic-creator-30021.html
Comic Life is an online creator – upload your own pictures – discounted, not free http://plasq.com/comiclife-win
Olympians
Writing the Story of a god http://olympiansrule.com/process/writing.html
Excellent visuals, good material for teachers, reading group guides.
Robin's Recommendations
Binky the Space Cat http://www.kidscanpress.com/US/Binky-the-Space-Cat-P3150.aspx
Cat protects family from "aliens" - bugs. More complicated and longer text than some g.n.
Lunch Lady (author in central-Massachusetts) http://www.lunchladycomics.com/
Kit Feeny http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375856143
Good for boys. About a dorky boy trying to be less dorky
Dinosaur Hour http://books.simonandschuster.com/Dinosaur-Hour-Volume-1/Hitoshi-Shioya/Dinosaur-Hour/9781421526485
works well for middle schoolers
Alison Dare (parents are divorced; strong girl adventure story - like Indiana Jones ) – re-release in May 2010 http://www.tundrabooks.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780887769344
Crogan Adventures (pirates.. – doing a boy’s adventure series)
Author does live readings with voices. Good for younger teens
Amelia Rules (girl, 10) – good for girls. Mom is divorced - deals with friendships, people getting ill. Realistic style
Prime Baby – sister is an Alien – sibling rivalry.
Salt Water Taffy – adventure series set in Maine. Good for boys
For Middle School:
Secret Science Alliance (middle school) – three kids (jock, girl, geek) who love science, create experiments and solve crimes http://secretsciencealliance.doing-fine.com/
Foiled by Jane Yolen (teenage girl, geek, fencer) - just released
Smile (braces…) Scholastic http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/content/smile-0
Great for middle school - all about the m.s. experience. By illustrator of Babysitters Club
Manga Guide to Electricity , Physics
Older than Middle School
New Orleans After the Deluge - follows 5 real people during and after Katrina. Doesn't have strong political agenda.
The Photographer (Afghanistan) - about Doctors without Borders
Hill and Wang – publisher of nonfiction g.n. - hire good artists and writers
The Vietnam War
Fahernheit 451
Trotsky
Twilight (popular, bad text bubbles – font and placement)
Transformations
Maximum Ride - Manga adaptation
Cirque de Freak
Graphic Spin:
Cinderella (fairy tale adaptations) Capstone
Wonderland - takes the story of Alice farther along.
Calamity Jack (series) (Jack is not white), Rapunzel's Revenge - retelling of traditional fairy stories
Trickster – beautiful in style
Bayou (extraordinarily good, focus on lynching)
Pluto - realistic Manga
Cataloging - several members said that they have all of their graphic novels together on the shelves, but then use the numbers to organize. Robin suggested that using title may work best as multiple authors for some g.n. - ie Batman
Titles (previously entered - 2008)
Tim Callahan's recommended Graphic Novelists (in reverse order of importance):
Neal Adams
Mark Millar - Marvel 1985. Features a young boy protaganist going to another universe, trying to come home. Young teens
Bill Willingham - Fables. Teens - sex and violence. Later volumes get more sophisticated.
Gerard Way - The Umbrella Academy - teens
Kevin Colden - Fishtown - based on true story of hs students who murder a classmate. Brutal and harsh - older and teens. Told from students perspective - chilling.
Free on web.
Alex Ross - Marvels - watercolors, younger and older teens. Different graphic perpectives.
Steve Gerber - Omega the Unknown - all ages. Bizarre content - young boy genius with alien robots for parents. All mystery, little action.
Peter Milligan - British - The Human Target - teens. Identity issues, not a lot of action. Protaganist puts on difft. disguises to do jobs.
Paul Chadwick - Concrete - Human trapped in rock body, environmentally conscious - introspective, not lots of action
Mike Allred - Madman - character struggle to figure out who he is
Joe Sacco - Gorazde - nonfiction account of Bosnia
Steve Rude - Nexus -
Craig Thompson - Blankets - coming of age story - sex, religion, family - older teens
Wally Wood - Weird Science -characters with domed heads flying in space - style mixes cartoons and realism
Ed Brubaker - Sleeper - double-agent working in super-villain organization. Realistic writing - crime noir
Darwyn Cooke - DC: The new Frontier - origins of the Justice Frontier
Paul Pope - Heavy Liquid - stories more about style than substance. Manga influence
Warren Ellis - Planetary - group of chars. involved in superaction plot - popculture of particular time
Steve Ditko - The Amazing Spider-Man
Yoshihiro Tatsumi - Push Man and Other Stories - Manga, subtle - everyday life, something bad happens. Older teens and above
Adrian Tomine - Shortcomings - older teens, focuses on lack of connection among people
James Kochalka - American Elf - collected diary, one day at a time - online. Also wrote Peanut Butter and Jeremy
Jaime Hernandez - Love and Rockets - older teens, relationships
Jason Aaron - Scalped - Native Amer. crime story on a reservation - older teens
Gilbert Hernandez - Palomar - brother of Jaime. relationships in community
Bryan Lee O'Malley - Scott Pilgrim - loser type character has to fight ex-boyfriends of newly discovered girl - older teens
Brian Wood - Local - chapters about a girl, each chapter takes place in difft geo. region, difft. period of life - older teens - sex
Jeff Smith - Bone
Matt Fraction - Casanova - older teens
Will Eisner - Spirit
Neil Gaiman - Sandman
Persepolis
Howared Cruse - Stuck Rubber Baby - nudity, sexuality
Frank Miller - Sin City
Art Spiegleman - Maus
Grant Morrison - Animal Man
Jack Kirby - The Fourth World all ages
Dan Clowes - Ice Haven - teacher fired over - scene with sex and nudity
Chris Ware - Jimmy Corrigan
Alan Moore - Watchmen